Hi. I've become a permanent Linux newbie because I've never been able to get a modem to work for me on Linux. As my machine is dual-boot, I inevitably switch back to Windows, where the modem does work. A year or two ago, I got a Motorola Surfboard SB5100i (256k) cable modem installed by Blueyonder. Wonderful in Windows (after a 56k), known to work with Linux but no joy for me.

I've tried several installations - Suse 9.1/9.2/10.0, and live distros including the latest Knoppix, and got no joy. Except for Suse 9.3 live distro, which went straight out to the web, no trouble! Hope at last, I thought. But when I downloaded Suse 10.0 (through Windows!) it all went flat - no link.

When I dug down into the settings (and I'm a lost sheep when it comes to any form of comms) I found eth0 device: realtek: Semiconductors Ltd. RTL-8139/8139c/8139c+ (rev10), which might as well be Greek to me. Guessing that the modem might not be properly installed, I tried to install it and was told that "DHCP client is already running on eth0". So I went back to the live distro (i.e. the one working Linux partnership) and this identified what I take to be 2 network cards: AOpen (the mother board name) plus the 8139 string above, and "Motorola ING USB Cable Modem".

I suspect that the live distro may be working because it's not setting up eth0 for local networking (which I don't do anyway), but other distros do set it up. But I'm totally lost on this, and frustrated at not being able to move on with Linux. Any ideas anyone? Please!

Thanks for your questions. I had wondered about the order of detection, but a full day after my posting I suddenly realised that the connection was probably pure USB and I've just checked and it is. My motherboard has on-board networking, but it isn't hooked up to anything.

But I'm still lost with comms. Is eth0 still relevant? What else would it help you to know? The cable modem is a Motorola Surfboard 51001.

Okay, I started thinking for myself. As I didn't network, I didn't need a router, and I knew I had an ethernet socket in the computer. At £4.48, an ethernet cable was worth a gamble. I stuck it in and pulled out the USB link and switched the modem on again. After a few seconds it was up and running without changing Linux settings. Finally.

If you're another one hung up on modem problems, this answer is as cheap as it gets, and it may be imagination, but web downloading seems much faster, too.